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Erik Steinbrecher
[...] Last year, three more new works became part of the collection and have been exhibited in the renovated administration building since this summer. They are LES CHEVEUX DE MONSIEUR ROUSSEAU (MR. ROUSSEAU’S HAIR; 2011), a work that was displayed in a hairdresser’s shop window as part of the “Art en plein air” (‘Open air art’) exhibition in Môtiers in 2011, and two modified hats. LES CHEVEUX DE MONSIEUR ROUSSEAU consists of a fur coat, fur hat and toupée made from artificial hair that hang one above the other and form a kind of body. The title of the work alludes to writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1712–1778) natural philosophy and the location where it was first presented – a hairdressing salon in Môtiers. As mentioned above, everyday aesthetics play a key role for the artist. As part of his method, he questions normal, everyday objects to find the stories they contain or even hide, transfigures them or shows them in a surprising and often strange way. This is reminiscent of surrealism, a movement from the early 20th century that also worked on using the artistic process to break through to hidden and even taboo dimensions of reality and to temporarily release forces in art that are tamed in the process of civilization for a good reason.
The artist himself says that he addresses the reciprocal effect between culture, wildness and decay in some of his works, including those in our collection that we have discussed here. Steinbrecher describes the two hats, which he has cut open and sprayed gold or silver, as “surrealist” representations of heads: “Both heads seem to spin (turn…), as if they were setting (wild) ideas in motion.” The artist is interested in the anthropological side of his profession and the insights that come with it, even though he enjoys picking up on issues of form, architecture and design and has done so in numerous works, demonstrating his affinity with architecture and everyday design.
Roman Kurzmeyer
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